Inside the Pentagon 07.07.06
Washington Times
Suitcase nukes
A senior Energy Department official stated recently that nuclear weapons exist in sizes small enough to be carried by one person.
Linton Brooks, undersecretary of energy for national security affairs, told defense reporters recently that he viewed a model of a Russian nuclear artillery shell at the All Russian Institute of Technical Physics. "You've got to be kind of strong, but you can carry it," he said. Also, nuclear bombs called atomic demolition munitions that are portable enough to be moved by people have been around for 20 or 30 years. The devices are sophisticated and could not easily be produced by terrorists or criminals.
"The question is not so much is it possible," he said. "The question is, has there been any loss of control of these things?"
Mr. Brooks discussed what he called the "urban legend" that three Russian suitcase bombs are hidden someplace in the Middle East. But he dismissed recurrent reports of the suitcase bombs as not true, noting that claims about the weapons are that they have been there since the early 1990s and yet the nukes have never been used.
"The point is if it were true it would be a very big deal," he said. "That's why it's important that I spend money and time and effort helping the Russians improve their physical security."
• Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough are Pentagon reporters. Mr. Gertz can be reached at 202/636-3274 or by e-mail at bgertz at washingtontimes.com. Mr. Scarborough can be reached at 202/636-3208 or by e-mail at rscarborough@ washingtontimes.com.
"Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality."